A Soul's Desire
by Chibigurl116
Summary: Kaylee's life just wouldn't be normal without some otherworldly creature appearing and trying to take her life. But this time, she's not the one in danger. Can she really save someone who's lied to her and another who is already dead?
1. Chapter 1

"Kaylee this is Dove." Emma introduced us, throwing her long blonde hair over her shoulder. "She is new here and I met her in first period. We became fast friends." The two smiled at each other and Dove turned towards me.

"It's very nice to meet you." she spoke in a very high pitched voice. She had long black hair and large pool blue eyes. She was almost as beautiful as Emma, maybe even more so. I smiled as an exchange of greeting and sat down at the stone table, starting to eat my lunch. Emma and Dove chatted away like they were old friends reunited and a spark of jealousy pitted in my stomach. Emma Marshall was my best friend. Of course she was allowed to have other friends but she didn't; there was always just me.

Suddenly- out of nowhere- a certain little blonde reaper popped up, sitting across from me with a smug grin on his face. My eyebrow twitched at his sudden appearance.

Emma turned to me to say something but stopped when she noticed I was looking at- nothing. "Hey Em. Will you please go get me some napkins. I totally forgot." I said slowly, hoping she would take the hint. She looked once again at the empty spot and suddenly understanding clicked in her eyes.

She turned to the new girl. "Hey, you gonna go with? I can point out all the crush worthy guys." She stood.

Dove hesitated for a slight moment but stood anyway. "Sure." She answered sounding a little confused.

Once they had returned into the cafeteria I turned to Tod. "What the hell man? What if someone sees you?"

He wagged his finger back and forth smirking at me. "They can only see me if I want them to. Remember?"

I rolled my eyes, almost laughing. "Whatever. So what are you doing here?" I stuck my chicken nugget in ketchup and took a bite. It wasn't amazing, but it wasn't bad either. I guess that was high school lunch for you. Totally not worth two bucks a tray.

"A friend asked me to take over his shift in this district and theres a guy across the street who's about to kick the can in an hour, so I thought I'd kill some time." He took a fry off of my tray and popped it into his mouth.

I stared at him. "Oh. That's interesting."

He nodded in agreement. "Yep. That old geezer will be coughing and wheezing his lungs up any minuet now. Will take him a while to die though."

"Geez Tod, you sound so remorseful for someone who is about to loose their life." I pushed the tray away. Talking about death always made me loose my appetite.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Been there, done that. Being a reaper, you don't have time to be remorseful. You just get in there, take a good swing, and get out." I couldn't help but giggle at that and he smiled, leaning back on the bench. "So who is that new chick?"

"I don't know much. Her name is Dove. She seems pretty okay."

"Tod, go away." We both whipped our heads around to see Nash standing only a few feet away with Sabine at his side.

"Oh hey little bro." Tod gave a small wave. "Coincidence meeting you here." Nash rolled his eyes and sat on my right while Sabine sat across from him.

"No it's not. Why are you at my school?" But before Tod could answer, Dove and Emma reappeared with each a handful of napkins. I turned to him and he gave me a small wink before suddenly blinking out.

I tuned out the conversation as Emma introduced Dove. There was this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach like today wasn't going to be a good day, yet I couldn't figure out why. Like that same feeling you get when you always know Monday's are gonna suck. Despite Sabine's several attempts to annoy me while flirting shamelessly with Nash, I spent the rest of my lunch in silence.

* * *

><p>Dove was in my last class of the day and she proceeded to take the empty desk to my right as soon as she walked into the classroom. "Hey Kaylee." She smiled at me sweetly.<p>

"Hey.." I replied and turned my gaze to the board where Mrs. Anderson was already writing down the day's assignments.

A frown formed on Dove's face. "Do you not like me?" She spoke so softly I almost didn't hear it.

"What?" I asked, turning to face her.

"You don't like me do you?" She held her head, staring down at the floor. She looked like a poor innocent child had just been told Santa didn't exist.

"No it's not that." I said, waving my hands frantically. I looked towards the front of the room to make sure the teacher was still distracted. "I was just a little surprised at how quickly you and Emma became friends is all." She still didn't lift her head. "It's not that I don't like you I promise."

A smile returned on her face. She looked up at me with those blue eyes. "Great! Because from the moment I met you I thought we could be really good friends."

I returned her smile. "So what are you doing here anyways?"

"My parents died in a tragic accident in a forest, so I was shipped to live with my uncle for a few years. Turns out he was a crack addict so they sent me here with some foster parents." Her grin never faltered even with her gruesome story. I felt a pang of pity for her, but the teacher started our lesson and our conversation would have to wait. Mrs. Anderson was a real stickler for attention.

* * *

><p>After school I said goodbye to Nash and he left with Sabine-which unnerved me to no end. Then Dove rode the bus home and I drove Emma to her house. I was going to stay over for a while, maybe get some homework done and watch a movie.<p>

When we arrived at her house neither her mother, nor her sisters were home. I threw my backpack on the ground throwing also hopes of getting that homework done and we entered the living room where she immediately put in a DVD.

"What is it this time?" I asked smirking at her as she plopped down on the couch next to me. "Another old chick flick? 13 Going On 30?"

"Shut it!" She yelled and hit me with a throw pillow. "That movie is amazing. Besides, I thought we'd use the T.V. as background noise." She turned around to face me fully. "What I really want to know is what's going on with you and Nash."

My mood suddenly dropped. "There isn't much to say." I sighed heavily. "Or it's more like I don't know _what_ to say. We are what we are I guess."

She stared at me with a blank expression on her face, clearly not satisfied. "Oh don't give me that crap. Are you dating or aren't you?"

I shrugged my shoulders and stared at the screen. I didn't know what was going on between Nash and me. We were a sort of he'd beg me, I'd want him, then Sabine would do something to mess it up, I'd get mad, and it would all start over like some sort of crazed cycle. It was driving me mad to say the least. Maybe if Sabine had never showed up we wouldn't be in this situation. Maybe me and Nash would have gotten back together a long time ago? Or maybe not..

Emma noticed my sour expression and quickly changed the subject. "So what do you think about Dove? She's super cool."

I smiled, glad to talk about something else. "I didn't have much of a chance to really get to know her, but we're both in Mrs. Anderson's class and we've decided to become friends, so I guess I'll figure that out later." She nodded and we sort of drowned into the movie. The whole time we spent half the time talking and half the time watching. The movie was about some girl running away to London to find her father. Girlish movies like these were Emma's favorites. I, however, preferred thrillers. I liked the feel of anxiousness.

The topics we discussed ranged from a wide variety. Who Emma considered dating next, homework, upcoming Spring Break, tests, family issues, work, and many other things. I loved to just hang out with Emma like this. She was the only real girl friend I had ever had and she trusted me 100% as did I with her. I knew I wouldn't trade her up for anything.

Around 7:00 just when the sun had set, my phone buzzed with my dad calling. I flipped it open. "Yeah dad, what's up?" I threw a piece of popcorn in my mouth.

"Kaylee, listen to me sweetie. I need you to come home right now." There was a deep sadness in his voice that i noticed immediately.

"Dad?" My voice rose with concern. "What's wrong?"

"Just come home now please." He hung up. I threw the blanket off of me and handed the bowl of popcorn to Emma. She looked confused as I quickly slipped on my shoes.

"Somethings happened. I'll call you as soon as I figure out what." I grabbed my bag and ran out the front door to my car. I quickly opened the door, throwing my bag in the passenger's seat and turned the engine on, speeding home.

But I could see quickly what my dad was so sad about. From miles away I could see it. The bright orange and red flames that danced in the early twilight, mixing colors so beautifully painful it had to be a sin. When I pulled up in front of my house, it was on fire.


	2. Chapter 2

The emotion that filled me couldn't be described. Desperation, panic, relief. Nothing did it justice as I stood there and watched firemen try to extinguish the flames but to no avail. I folded into my father's arms as tears began to rise to the corners of my eyes. Sure, we hadn't lived there for long, but it was our first home together; as a family.

"It's okay." he whispered soothingly into my ear. He stroked my back to calm me down. "Harmony has arranged for us to stay at her place for a while." Brandon was currently on vacation with Sophie since it was the anniversary of her mother's death. She would probably spend the whole trip being pissed off at me. I saw my dad glance up at our house with a deep sadness in his eyes. He looked back down at me. "We should probably go." I nodded and fought back the tears. Then followed him to his car without looking back. The fire. How did it start? That was the one question I couldn't get out of my head.

* * *

><p>When we arrived at the Hudson's, Nash wrapped me in a hug as soon as I stepped over the threshold. "Kaylee. I'm so sorry this happened." There was a sincere tone in his voice, like he was truly feeling the same pain as I, and that made me put my arms around him and return the gesture. After a few moments he released me and I watched as Harmony comforted my dad in the same manor. She turned to me with a frown on her face. "I'm sure you both are tired. Aiden, you can take the spare bedroom in the back. Kaylee, you can stay in Nash's room" My eyes widened in surprise. Harmony was never as strict as my father but I didn't ever imagine her to say what she did.<p>

Dad objected immediately. "That's quite alright. Kaylee can sleep in the bedroom, I'll sleep on the couch." He nodded towards the cushion directly across from him. I turned and watched as disappointment filled Nash's eyes. I should feel discouraged as well shouldn't I? Yet, for some reason, I didn't/

After my dad went to go make himself some coffee, Harmony soon led me down the hallway to the bedroom. When she opened the door I thought it would be formal and clean, but to my surprise it was filled with large brown boxes stacked high. "This was going to be Tod's room." She explained when she saw the confused look on my face. I felt a pang of guilt in my stomach even though I didn't force her to tell me. She glanced around the room before her gaze landed back on me. "I couldn't part with any of it. I mean, I do see him from time to time... but that doesn't change the fact.." That he was still dead. I knew what she wanted to say. Just because Tod was a reaper didn't change the fact that he wasn't alive. She shook her head dumbly as if she were a fool, then closed the door behind her as she left.

Curiosity soon got the better of me and I started to peak around at the tops of the open boxes. Tod was so quiet about himself. I didn't know what he liked to do in all of his spare time, or even what his favorite color was. I don't really know why I wondered so much about it. He was mysterious.

"Hey." I whirled around as Nash entered the room. Confrontations such as these were still awkward between the two of us. "How are you doing?" He asked approaching me.

"Besides the fact that I no longer have anywhere to live, I'm doing pretty okay."

He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Why do you always handle situations with sarcasm?"

I shrugged my shoulders and plopped down on the bed. "I dunno. Maybe I learned that from your brother."

Anger swirled in his eyes but I wasn't quite sure why. He sat down on the bed beside me. "Well I'm sorry about your house, but I'm glad your here." He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into his chest. I felt comforted by his gesture and binded my arms around his neck. I looked up into Nash's eyes and the iris swirled with the greens and browns. He smiled at me and I felt myself smiling back. Then he leaned down and I felt his cool lips press against my own. As soon as I started to kiss back the bedroom door flew open and my dad stood there with his arms crossed against his chest.

"Since this is your house Nash, I can't tell you to go home. But I sure as hell can tell you to get away from my daughter and go to be. So, Nash. Get away from Kaylee and go to bed." I almost laughed. Nash slowly stood and sluggishly left the room. My dad stood there until we both heard the door close. He walked forward and gave me a small kiss on my forehead. "Goodnight Kaylee."

"Night." He smiled at me and left, shutting the door.

I shut the light off and crawled into bed, pulling the covers up to my shoulders. It was still early but the impact of the fire had me inches away from sleep coma. Closing my eyes, I quickly slipped off to sleep.

* * *

><p>My eyes shot open as I flew forward. Sweat drenched my face and shirt. My breathing was heavy and I felt as if I had just ran out of breath. The dream... it was horrible. Everything was taken from me. Slipped through my grasp and even through I tried to keep it clinging to my fingertips. Tears sprang to my eyes as everything still felt so real. I was scared. I needed proof that my life hadn't been thrown to the demon of chaos. I climbed out of bed and walked down the hallway to Nash's room. I wanted, no, I needed his comfort. Yet, just as I was about to knock on the door, I heard a voice I instantly recognized as Sabine's.<p>

My stomach pitted, but the dread never reached the bottom. Ever so slowly, I opened to door slightly where I had a clear view of Nash and Sabine lying on his bed. My eyes grew wide.

"Do you remember what we use to be?" She asked, turning her head to look at him. Nash smiled and nodded at her. She scooted closer to him on the bed. "Do you miss it?" She pressed.

There was a long drawn out silence until Nash finally answered, "Yes." He heaved a deep sigh as if he had waited many long years to say that. She wrapped him in a hug and he slowly but surely hugged her back. I nearly choked on a gasp. It was happening. My dream was coming to life.

Everyone was leaving me.

I quickly backed up and ran down the hallway, tears fully flowing from my eyes, then busted through the spare bedroom door. But what I didn't expect was Tod sitting on the bed tossing a small baseball up in the air. At the sight of me he immediately dropped the ball to the floor. "Kaylee, what's wrong." I couldn't answer his question, nor could I just leave without explaining. Tod would simply appear in front of me over and over allowing me to never escape. But I didn't know if I could talk about my dream. It was to scary, to intense. To real.

He pried again, and grabbed me by my"Kaylee," arm, pulling me onto the bed and into his embrace. "What's wrong?" The words just came flowing out.

"I had a horrible nightmare that everyone I cared about left me. Nash ran off with Sabine, my dad died, Harmony went crazy, Emma became better friends with Dove, and you hated me." I sobbed into his chest. He clutched me closer and stroked my head, trying to calm me. Strangely enough, it was working.

"That will never happen Kaylee." He lifted up my face with his hands so I could see the truth in his eyes. "No matter what happens, I promise I will always be there for you. I will be your rock, and you know that. Now," he smiled at me. "It was only a dream. Don't worry about it."

I nodded, knowing he was right. I wiped the few stray tears left from my eyes and glanced over at the alarm clock. 3:26 a.m. "Well," I said slowly turning to him. "Looks like I wont be getting any sleep tonight."

Tod shook his head then grinned. "Nope, I suppose not. But who needs sleep when you've got me here to shed greatness on your morning." I giggled slightly and smacked him playfully on the head. I don't know what it was about Tod, but he comforted me, made it really convincing that everything was going to be alright. Maybe it was the warmth of his embrace, or the deep rumbling in his chest, or the sincere way he spoke my name. Whatever it was, I was glad he was here.

* * *

><p>Many hours passed as Tod and I simply lay on his bed and talk about many topics. I don't think I've ever spent this much time just talking to him, and I liked it. He talked about these few slow days at the hospital and I told him about loosing me house. We also talked about his pizza delivery job and how he actually liked it. Time had flown but I didn't realize how much until there was a knock at my door.<p>

"Hey Kaylee you awake?" It was Nash's voice. Without my confirmation he walked in but froze as soon as he saw us. He clenched his jaw in anger. "What the hell are you doing here Tod?"

"This is my room." He said with a smug look on his face.

"That's now what I mean and you know that damn well." His gaze shifted to me. "Why is he laying in bed with you?"

Anger spiked my pulse and I shot up in bed. "Oh you mean kind of like the way Sabine was laying in your bed last night?"

Nash shot me a confused look. "Sabine is different. She's my friend."

I threw my arms in the air. "Tod's my friend too!"

Nash took an intimidating step forward. "He's my brother."

I stood and got in his face, throughly pissed. "You don't treat him like one!"

Nash sighed and backed away, rubbing his forehead. The gesture frustrated me further, like I was too crazy for him to handle. Contrary to my week at a mental health hospital I was perfectly sane. "Why were you spying on me and Sabine?"

"Spying?" I mock laughed. "I had a nightmare," I spat. "But you were too busying comforting her. I bet I didn't even cross your mind? Well your brother decided to take up your job and helped me feel better. Besides, if I want to sleep with Tod how is any of your concern." I realized how wrong the statement sounded once it left my lips even though I didn't mean it that way. But of course that was exactly how Nash took it.

"What the hell? How is it not my concern? And I'm sorry you had a nightmare, you could have told me." His irises churned with anger and conflicting confusion.

I shoved Nash across the threshold and into the hallway. "Do your sorries even mean anything anymore because I hear them an awful lot." I pointed my finger in his face. "Do me a favor, if you're going to be two faced with me, at least make one of them attractive." And I slammed the door in his face, locking the door.

I turned around, breathing heavily. Tod was still on the bed but a huge smirk was plastered on his face. "Great work there Marilyn Monroe." I rolled my eyes and felt a smile tugging at the corner of my lips.

"Oh shut up. Don't think this earns you any brownie points." I collapsed on the bed and sighed heavily. Tod appeared at my side.

"I think it earns me a lot of brownie points. The real question is, what do I get to cash them in for?" He held my gaze for a long moment and I couldn't look away. His eyes were intense and I felt some emotion bubble in my stomach. Finally he looked away and grinned up at the ceiling. "Well I'd love to stay and chat, but pizza's must get delivered. I'll stop by on my break." And in a flash, just like that, he was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

Breakfast that morning was awkward to say in the least. Nash was mad at me so he sent glares my way, which was very un-Nashlike. My dad was exhausted from the night before, and Harmony just sat there quietly eating her food. I didn't know exactly how to react myself. I had only been here for one day and Nash and I already had a fight. I didn't think it was fair for Nash to treat me this way then expect that I would come crawling in his bed to makeout with him?

Hell no.

"Well this is nice~" I heard Tod's voice from behind me. I whirled around to see him standing there with a smile on his face.

I glanced back to see that no one else had looked up at the presence of the dead teenager. I turned back around and coughed lightly. Heads turned up. "I'm going to excuse myself, if you don't mind." Dad nodded and I stood, the chair scrapping the floor as I did. While I walked I made a slight motion with my hand for Tod to follow me. As I walked down the hall I heard someone else leave the table as well. I slipped into Tod's bedroom in time to hear Nash's door close.

When I turned around Tod was standing in the middle of his room like I expected. "You rang?" He asked smiling slightly.

I shook my head, sitting down on the bed. "Your brother is _so _mad at me." I mumbled and laid back staring up at the ceiling. Tod chuckled.

"Well I would think so since you basically snapped at him with the force of an alligator."

I threw my hands over my face in fatigue. "Why did he have to put all this pressure on me while I'm dealing with my burned down house."

For once Tod was silent. I looked up to make sure he was actually still there. He was. Sighing I stood and walked over to him. "Thank you for last night." I arched slightly on my feet to hug him. His arms wrapped around my waist and he squeezed me in return. When I drew back I smiled at him slightly. "Well I need to get dressed for school, so if you wouldn't mind..."

A smirk pulled at the corner of his lips. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather me stay and watch?"

I rolled my eyes but I was smiling as well. "Just get out of here."

He nodded and saluted me. "See you 'round!" And in a flash, he vanished.

* * *

><p>"I'm so sorry about what happened to your home." Dove said to me later that day.<p>

"How did you know?" I asked her as the teacher passed out a worksheet.

"Emma told me. I think it's horrible. Do they even know how the fire started?"

I shook my head. Emma didn't know about my house yet because I hadn't gotten around to telling her, along with the fact that she wasn't at school today. She texted me early this morning and told me she was sick. So how did Dove know? "No. They blame it on a gas leak but my dad is really particular about checking stuff. He would have noticed if anything was left on."

"Hmm..." She tapped her cheek in a thinking way. "Maybe it was spontaneous combustion?"

My brows crinkled at that. "That set a whole house on fire?"

She shrugged her shoulders and turned her pool blue eyes to me. "Maybe it was some kind of otherworldly creature?"

My breath seemed to stop at her remark. What did she mean like _my _kind of otherworldly? Thoughts buzzed in my head of all the creatures I could possibly think of. Not that I knew many of them. How would she know that? I glanced back over at her but she had started on the assignment. I looked Dove over. She seemed pretty regular, beautiful, girl. But she was speaking of very real things.

Sighing, I shook my head. No, I wasn't going to worry myself over these types of things right now. I have my house, my father, Nash, and no doubt here soon, Sabine all to deal with. I didn't need to add Dove to the mix over what she did or didn't know.

After class, I skipped lunch since Emma wasn't going to be there, and I really didn't want to deal with Nash and Sabine. As I was walking in the opposite direction from the cafateria, Dove stopped me.

"Hey~ Aren't you going to lunch?"

I turned and shook my head. "Not hungry."

She shifted her weight to her other foot. "What about Nash?"

I was silent for a moment. "What about him?"

"Are you sure you want to leave him alone with Sabine?"

I sighed, annoyed. "No, but I really don't want to deal with him right now."

She looked as if she was contemplating the idea, then nodded. "Okay~ I'll go keep him company." And she walked off with a bit to much bounce in her step.

I cocked my head to the side in confusion. Was she implying something. Did she have a thing for Nash? Wouldn't surprise me... Almost every girl did. I bet they looked at me with disgust. How could I be the one to dump him? They gossip that Nash was probably cheating on me anyways, that I wasn't good enough for him.

Shaking my head, I headed out in the parking lot towards my car. You technically weren't supposed to leave campus during school hours, but I needed to check on my dad. His work had given him a few days off after the house was burnt to a crisp.

I put the car in drive and sped out of the parking lot, past the sleeping guard, and onto the highway.

The house wasn't too far away from the high school, but I decided to take the back roads. I didn't feel like getting stuck in afternoon traffic, so I turned off the main road and onto the unused path.

During this, my phone rang. I glanced at the caller I.D. It said unknown number. Usually, I wouldn't answer such calls, but I flipped it open anyway. "Hello?"

The phone hung up. I frowned at the phone and set it back on the passenger's seat. I returned my eyes to the road, and a gasp exploded from my lips. A little girl was standing in the middle of the road, staring at the car flying towards her. I didn't think. I threw the wheel towards the side to avoid crushing her small frame into the pavement. The car jumped off the road and smashed into a tree. The impact was rough and it hurt.

That was the last thing I could remember.


End file.
